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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28354734">Call for Backup</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/paperowl/pseuds/paperowl'>paperowl</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adorable Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Adult Peter Parker, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anxiety, Babysitting, Gen, Light Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Paranoia, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter and MJ learn to communicate, Post-Spider-Man: Far From Home, Psychological Trauma, Sickfic, Tony Stark Has A Heart, thanos never happened</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 02:47:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,662</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28354734</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/paperowl/pseuds/paperowl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Peter is nervous about babysitting Morgan for a week, but he's an adult and Morgan likes him, so this should be easy. And, ignoring his recently acquired anxiety and paranoia, it is. Until they both get food poisoning and Peter has to call MJ, his ex who isn't keen on talking to him, for help.</p><p>aka,<br/>Peter gets sick while babysitting Morgan and the only person he can call for help isn't very happy with him</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Peter Parker &amp; Michelle Jones, Peter Parker &amp; Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Irondad and Spiderson Secret Santa 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Call for Backup</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/sahiya/gifts">sahiya</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Happy (late) secret santa fic! I started to edit this and my muse decided to force me to rewrite the whole thing instead, causing immense stress and making me late for the deadline. So here it is, a little over a day late and double the length I originally wrote it as. Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Are you sure?” Peter asked, uneasy with what May was suggesting. Theoretically, he could see why he was being asked, but he felt so unprepared.</p><p>“Yes,” May said. “You’re 21 years old, Peter, you’re enough of an adult to take care of a three-year-old for a week. You’ve looked after Morgan for a weekend before, she seemed to enjoy it and was well taken care of. Besides, if you end up needing help you can always call MJ.” She finished with a smile and a wink.</p><p>He and MJ did not need an intervention. They were talking, albeit rather coldly, but still, if they wanted to communicate they could. Peter just didn’t feel like apologizing for something that was clearly not his fault. It had only been a little over a month and a half and here May was, purposefully going on vacation the same week as Tony and Pepper had a business trip in the hopes that he’d be forced to talk to MJ. Well, it wasn’t going to happen.</p><p>Peter sighed and reluctantly agreed with May anyway. He really enjoyed Morgan’s company and loved spending time with her. He wasn’t sure he was ready to take care of her for a week, but given that most of the other Avengers (and May) had taken a turn babysitting Morgan he supposed it was only fair he do it at least once. Plus, a week away from the city would be nice, what with Peter still recovering from the mess of the month before.</p><p>Tony and Pepper were glad to hear it, and Peter spent the next couple of weeks studying up on taking care of toddlers in preparation. He really didn’t want to have to talk to MJ, and he was doing everything in his power to make sure that didn’t happen. Pepper, in a wildly helpful gesture, provided him with an extensive amount of information on what to do over the week. And she gave it to him early so that he had time to ask questions before they left.</p><p>The day arrived and Peter was a bundle of nerves driving to the lake house with May. He was always a bundle of nerves, but he could feel it more than normal. His anxiety eased a bit after he was able to ask Tony and Pepper some clarifying questions and get his stuff settled in. Tony noticed how fidgety he was and pulled him aside.</p><p>“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Tony asked, concern etched on his forehead. “Because if you’re not, that’s okay, we have a backup available. I know things have been tough recently, and we really don’t mind.”</p><p>“Yeah, I’m sure.” Peter nodded his head. “I’m fine, I swear. I’ve just never babysat a kid for a week, so I’m a bit nervous about it. That’s all.”</p><p>“Okay,” Tony said with a shrug. “If you say so. Just know that if it ever gets too hard or becomes too much you can let us know. We care about your well-being just as much as Morgan’s, and if that means calling in someone else or coming home early, then we’ll call someone else or come back early. Got that?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Peter said, and smiled at Tony to seal the deal. He didn’t want to back down now, not when he’d already committed to this. He just hoped faking that he wasn’t super nervous would actually make him less nervous. </p><p>He said his goodbyes to Tony, Pepper, and May, dread rising in him as he watched them drive down the driveway in their cars. He took a deep breath, he was fine, everything was fine. But he got FRIDAY to check the perimeter anyway, just in case. Then he went back inside, closing and locking the door behind him, and heading to the living room, where Morgan was sitting and watching her favorite movie with rapt attention.</p><p>Peter hoped that Tony and Pepper saying their goodbyes early and turning on the movie would be enough to stop Morgan from freaking out when she realized that her parents were gone. No reason in alerting her early though, so he sat down on the other end of the couch and tried to relax and watch the movie.</p><p>When the movie ended Morgan asked him if her parents had left, and much to Peter’s pleasant surprise, she didn’t put up any sort of fuss when he said yes. Instead, she just told him she was hungry and asked for lunch. She chattered endlessly as they made a mess making PB&amp;J’s, she used what Peter thought must have been at least double the words from the last time he saw her. Peter didn’t need to say much because Morgan supported the conversation all on her own.</p><p>“Can we go swimming?” Morgan asked after lunch, looking up at him with what was undeniably puppy eyes. Even without them Peter would have said yes, but they were a nice touch nonetheless.</p><p>He got her to clean her face, which was covered in jam, and made sure that once their swimsuits were on they were both slathered in sunscreen. He didn’t want to get sunburned, and he <i>really</i> didn’t want to have to deal with a sunburnt Morgan. She was usually a happy kid, but Peter knew from experience that sunburns tended to make just about anyone grumpy.</p><p>“We can only stay out there for an hour, okay?” Peter said to Morgan as he finished with the sunscreen.</p><p>Morgan, as a three-year-old with no concrete sense of time, said, “Do we have to stay in for the whole hour? That's so long!” </p><p>Peter laughed, “No, we don’t have to stay for the whole hour. If you want to go in early you can.” He buckled up her life jacket and said, “Alright, you can go swim now.” </p><p>Morgan grinned and sprinted for the back door, making her way down the porch steps and across the grass, splashing gleefully into the water. Peter trailed behind her, content with walking. “Don’t go past the end of the dock!” he called down to her when she hit the water.</p><p>He was ankle-deep in the water not long after Morgan made it and he stayed near her the whole time. Morgan, living by a lake, had been learning to swim for two years, but it was mostly rescue tactics meant to prevent her from drowning, so Peter kept within an arm’s distance any time she wasn’t on her feet, just in case.</p><p>Thankfully what Morgan enjoyed most about being in the water involved being on her feet in a very shallow part of the water. Mostly she splashed around and chased minnows with a level of energy that even Peter could admire. Predictably though she got tired quickly and putting her down for a nap after all the exercise she’d had was incredibly easy.</p><p>Once Morgan was asleep, Peter sat around unsure what to do. His idle mind quickly took the opportunity to monopolize the extra brainpower, sending it all to the anxiety that he’d managed to tamp down. It came back and hit him with full force, sending him spiraling into a panic. He had to check on Morgan and make sure she was okay, he had to check with Friday to make sure they were safe and there wasn’t anyone on the property, and then he went to hide in a closet, repeating to himself that he was fine, and what he’d seen before wasn’t and never would be real.</p><p>He sat in the corner of the closet longer than he’d be willing to admit, long enough that FRIDAY had to alert him Morgan was awake and ready to wander the house. Peter did his best to pull himself together and play with Morgan, trying not to whip his head around at every sound or shadow he saw out of the corner of his eye.</p><p>Thankfully dinner was an easy affair, reheated leftovers and ice cream. Peter was grateful that Pepper hadn’t left much cooking to him, because he had a feeling that Morgan’s pickiness would not mesh well with his style of cooking (it involved a lot of burnt things). Morgan was kind enough not to put up a fight at the vegetables she had to eat, and Peter hoped that courtesy would be extended to him for the rest of the week.</p><p>For a story that night Morgan vetoed the picture book he’d grabbed. “Tell me about Spider-Man,” she demanded.</p><p>“Uh, okay,” Peter said, scrambling to think of stories he could tell Morgan without permanently traumatizing her. “What do you know about Spider-Man?” he asked, “I wouldn’t want to tell you stories you already know.”</p><p>Morgan thought for a moment, “Spider-Man is kind and helpful, daddy says he’s the best superhero. But he won’t tell me any stories, so I don’t know anything.” She pouted.</p><p>“Okay,” Peter said, “Well I have some stories about Spider-Man.”</p><p>Morgan perked up, “Really? How?”</p><p>Peter leaned in close and whispered in her ear, “I know Spider-Man, we’re friends.”</p><p>Morgan gaped, eyes wide. Peter smiled at her expression and began to talk. He told her about all the cats Spider-Man had saved from trees, and about the time Spider-Man accidentally webbed up a guy locked out of his own car because Spider-Man thought he was a car thief. He got a few giggles out of Morgan before she drifted off, and when he tip-toed out of her room, careful not to wake her, he was ever so grateful to Tony for not telling his stories.</p><p>Peter wasn’t wildly enthusiastic about being the only one awake in a big house in the middle of the woods, so he told FRIDAY to stay on guard, and ended up asking her about every ten minutes if the perimeter was clear. It was better than the full-on breakdown he’d had that afternoon, but it still wasn’t great. </p><p>It didn’t take long for Peter to give up and just try to sleep. He was exhausted and doubted he’d get much quality rest, he hadn’t in a while. But it was always worth a shot, especially now that he was looking after a toddler who woke up at the crack of dawn every morning. Laying in the dark he couldn’t help but be petrified by fear. </p><p>For one odd moment, he wished Morgan would crack open the door and ask to sleep in his room instead. He wanted the company. And goodness, how bad was his anxiety if the company of a three-year-old was going to alleviate any of his worries. Agreeing to this week may have been more of a mistake than Peter had anticipated.</p><p>The days inched by and Peter’s anxiety only grew. He did his best to tell himself that everything was fine, Morgan was fine, and no one was threatening their lives, but logic only went so far. When he was around Morgan he acted as though nothing bothered him and he was having the time of his life, sometimes he actually believed it. But the fear always came creeping back.</p><p>Morgan was full of energy and joy at every turn, excited to show Peter around the woods surrounding her house even though she’d done it many times before. She wanted to watch her favorite movie every single day and made the most creative things out of Play-doh. Peter relished her joy and wholeheartedly participated in her games because her laughter was infectious and her ideas could be anything. </p><p>Sometimes those ideas were mundane, but after passing the halfway point of the week, getting fast food sounded like an excellent idea. Peter didn’t feel like cooking and Morgan wanted a burger and fries, so because Peter was wary of inviting delivery people to the lake house, he strapped Morgan up in her car seat and drove into the small town closest to the lake house. He still didn’t feel fully comfortable with the idea, but no one outside of a small group of people knew what Morgan looked like, and Peter was about as unremarkable as he could be when divorced from his secret identity. Still, they took the drive-through, getting in and out as fast as possible. Peter didn’t want to risk anything. </p><p>Morgan fell asleep on top of him that evening, and Peter had to carry her to her room and hope not to wake her when he slipped her under her covers. He also decided to go to bed early, feeling more tired than normal, though that was more due to the fact that he’d barely slept for the past few nights and generally had bad sleep habits even before then. His anxiety was still screaming at him to stay awake and make sure he and Morgan were safe, but he’d reached a level of exhaustion where that didn’t really matter anymore and he dozed off quite quickly.</p><p>Of course, in the way Parker luck always worked, he jolted out of bed at 3 a.m. and barely made it to the toilet when his stomach decided to expel all of its contents. Peter wanted to cry, he’d <i>just now</i> been able to sleep decently and he just had to be awoken with a stomach bug or food poisoning. How lovely.</p><p>Peter figured that in the case of food poisoning or a stomach bug, it was pretty logical to assume that Morgan had it too. So despite rolling nausea and stomach cramps, Peter got up to check on Morgan. He inched her door open and let out a sigh of relief when he saw she was laying in bed clutching her stuffed elephant with a content expression. He moved Morgan’s trash can closer to her bed, in the hopes that if she did wake up sick he wouldn’t have to clean the carpet, and silently closed her door behind him.</p><p>He nearly collapsed onto his bed, managing only to bring his own trash can closer and to grab his phone before curling up into a little ball. He wasn’t supposed to get sick; Tony said it was highly unlikely due to his enhanced immune system, so why now? It could be a fluke... or Peter could have been poisoned, the last thing he ate hadn’t been prepared by him, so it was a plausible idea. But no one knew who Peter was, no one who wanted him dead at least….right?</p><p>He couldn’t afford to follow that panic spiral, so in a last-ditch attempt to make himself feel better, he texted Ned.</p><p>
  <i>guess who got sick while babysitting<br/>
what do you want to bet it was the fast food I caved and got for Morgan</i>
</p><p>It was short, but he decided that at least one person had to know something had happened so if he really had been poisoned there would be a trail of evidence to follow. It made him feel only marginally better, and he still slipped into a bit of a panic worrying he’d been poisoned by someone who was already dead, but yet again the exhaustion overtook him. He was on the verge of falling back asleep when he heard crying.</p><p>He groaned and pushed himself out of bed. Well, that was Morgan, and the next few days were suddenly looking very difficult to get through. Sure enough, he opened her door and she was sitting up clutching her stomach. He winced at the smell, which was making him even more nauseous, and thanked his luck that he just had to clean the trash can and not the carpet.</p><p>The trash can was his number one priority, so he grabbed it and said a couple rushed words to Morgan about coming back soon before cleaning it as fast as possible. He brought it back with a trash bag and set it next to her bed again. He had a glass of water in his other hand and placed it on her nightstand, then he lowered himself to the floor next to her and flicked on her lamp, “Hey, how are you feeling?”</p><p>“Bad.” Morgan sniffled, blinking against the light.</p><p>“Yeah, I bet,” Peter said. “Does your stomach hurt?”</p><p>Morgan nodded.</p><p>“Well if you feel like you’re going to be sick again, your trash can is right here, okay?” Peter said.</p><p>Morgan nodded again, and when Peter moved to get up she said, “Stay. Daddy does it when I’m sick, so you have to too.”</p><p>“Oh, uh, okay,” Peter said. And so he stayed, doing his best to keep awake after turning off Morgan’s lamp. He jerked himself awake occasionally, with the occasional help from Morgan who poked his arm whenever he had to empty the trash can or refill the water glass. He had to stay alert and make sure that Morgan was okay because if he’d been poisoned then she had been too. And if it was bad enough to affect him it could be bad enough to kill Morgan.</p><p>By morning though, Morgan seemed to be back to her (mostly) healthy self. She was a little sore and tired, but the worst had passed and it looked like she’d probably gotten through most of it. Peter, on the other hand, had not been so fortunate, feeling progressively worse every hour. Morgan was okay with a lazy day, watching movies and not doing much else, but by lunch Peter was at the end of his rope.</p><p>Morgan knew he was sick, but he was still doing his best to take care of her and pretend like he felt fine because he had to, he’d signed up for looking after her. He wasn’t going to call and disrupt Tony or May’s trip because he got food poisoning, absolutely not. Peter was also coming to the realization that of all the things he could get sick with, anything involving his stomach was about the worst possible option. He could soldier his way through just about anything, but nausea and throwing up every couple of hours meant he had to always be on guard, unable to just do things even if they bothered him.</p><p>Peter knew better, Ned was at work. But Peter called him anyway, he needed some help, just for the day, and after his food poisoning passed he would be fine. Unsurprisingly, Ned said no, he was busy, and Peter was left with a dilemma. Call MJ who didn’t like talking to him, much less sharing his company, or call May or Tony and ruin their trip.</p><p>Peter spent another hour weighing the pros and cons before caving and reaching for his phone. MJ was really his only option, as May would need to book a regular flight to get home, meaning she would probably get back at around the same time whether he called or not, and Tony would take at least a day, even with his private plane. He sighed and dialed MJ’s number, he couldn’t back down now, least of all because he couldn’t adequately care for Morgan in his current state. Peter sat listening to the line ring with his heart in his throat, or maybe that was just the food poisoning, he couldn’t tell.</p><p>“Peter,” MJ said tersely when she answered the call.</p><p>“Hi,” Peter said. “Uh, I kind of need some help, I’m—”</p><p>“No.” </p><p>“Wait MJ, just hear me out. I swear I wouldn’t be calling if I didn’t really need it.” Peter said, crossing his fingers.</p><p>MJ sighed a bit dramatically. “Well spit it out then. And you’d better not be expecting to try and get back together with me, if you are I won’t speak to you again.”</p><p>Peter snorted. “I feel like death and I’m throwing up like every hour or two, this is the worst position to be in if I wanted to woo you back to me,” he said dryly, realizing that he hadn’t even considered this as some way to manipulate her, though that was a disgusting idea to begin with.</p><p>“So, what? You’re sick and you need someone to nurse you back to health?” MJ snapped.</p><p>“No, no,” Peter said. “You don’t have to do anything to take care of me, it’s just that I’m babysitting Morgan for a week and I can’t take care of her right now. No one else can come help in a reasonable time frame, so I was wondering if you…might be willing?”</p><p>“Why can’t you take care of her again?” MJ asked.</p><p>“I already said,” Peter started to get a bit annoyed. “I’ve got horrible food poisoning and I’m basically glued to one spot, I just need a bit of help with her until I get better, that’s all.”</p><p>MJ huffed, “Fine, I’ll come help. Where are you?”</p><p>Peter gave her the address and she said she’d be over in a couple of hours. He felt a strange mix of relief and dread set in when he ended the call. Morgan was going to be taken care of, but MJ was going to be at the lake house for at least a few hours and Peter wasn’t sure if he could handle being around MJ that long. Anything could spark an argument and Peter really didn’t want to fight.</p><p>Peter thought through the call some more and then got up to help Morgan fill her cup again and led her back to the couch where they started a new movie. Morgan cuddled up next to him. “Who was that?” she asked.</p><p>“A friend of mine,” Peter said. “She’s going to come help me take care of you until I feel a little better.”</p><p>“Is she your girlfriend?” Morgan asked.</p><p>“She used to be,” Peter sighed, “but we got into a fight and we don’t get along now.”</p><p>“Oh,” Morgan said. “You should apologize, mommy says that fixes fights.” She looked up at him and said it with a sort of finality, as if life was that easy.</p><p>“I’m afraid apologizing won’t fix it, it’s too complicated,” Peter said, giving Morgan a sad smile.</p><p>“How?” Morgan asked, twisting to look at him better.</p><p>Peter shrugged, giving Morgan the easy answer. “Nobody did anything wrong.” </p><p>“Oh,” Morgan said, squishing her eyebrows together and thinking for a moment before turning her focus back to the movie. </p><p>With the knowledge that MJ was coming to help, Peter relaxed a bit, and Morgan’s warmth at his side lulled him into a drowsy daze. The next thing he knew he was laying down on the couch covered by a blanket. The TV was off and the lights were dim. Through the headache that had materialized while he was sleeping, Peter opened his eyes enough to spot a glass of water next to a bottle of painkillers on the table.</p><p>It took a second for his brain to process everything and connect it to the two hushed voices he heard coming from the kitchen. MJ had followed through, she’d actually come to help him. Peter relaxed and some of his stress disappeared, he wouldn’t have to call Tony or May and disrupt their trips. But Peter realized something else and sat back up faster than was probably advisable, he had to hold his head and wait for the pounding to subside.</p><p>MJ was the one who gave him the blanket and the water and the painkillers. He told her she wouldn’t have to do anything for him, and then she went and did things for him. He was more than a little annoyed with her, he’d told her not to do things for him because he didn’t want this favor to have anything to do with him, it was just for Morgan, Tony, Pepper, and May. He sighed heavily, why did she have to make things so much harder? He was trying to keep their relationship as civil as possible and she was making it difficult.</p><p>He grabbed a couple of painkillers and the water, gulping them down because he was actually in pretty bad pain, enough to ignore his annoyance that MJ had set them out for him. He waited a little for the water to settle and the pain in his head to abate, and then he stood up and headed for the kitchen where loud giggling could now be heard.</p><p>Morgan and MJ were washing dishes. Well, MJ was washing them, Morgan had decided to take the bubbles and blow them around and appeared to be in the process of giving herself a bubble beard, laughing as she did so and eliciting a smile from MJ. Peter leaned against the door frame to watch, only moving towards the island when MJ finally caught sight of him and her smile faltered.</p><p>MJ turned back to the sink quickly to continue cleaning the dishes. Morgan had also caught sight of him and said excitedly, “Peter, look at my beard!”</p><p>Peter nodded at her, trying to look excited, and finally made it to the island, already tired from the short walk and glad to sit in a chair. </p><p>“MJ thinks it’s funny, do you?” Morgan asked, jumping down from her stool and walking towards Peter.</p><p>“Yeah, I do.” Peter smiled, even though he knew he sounded about as unenthused as possible.</p><p>MJ finished the dishes, placing the last one in the drying rack, and turned to Peter. “Bedtime routine?” </p><p>Peter read it to her from Pepper’s list and MJ left the room, Morgan’s hand in hers, to go put her to bed. But not after filling up another glass with water and giving it to Peter. MJ looked like she was on the verge of yelling at him, so Peter wasn’t sure why she was doing anything for him, but he was thirsty and the glass she’d given him was easiest to use, so he sipped at it even if he wished he could fill another glass just to get back at her.</p><p>He’d finished by the time she got back, and she smirked a bit when she saw the empty glass in front of him. “When was the last time you ate?” she asked.</p><p>“Uh,” Peter looked up at the ceiling, trying to remember, “last night?”</p><p>“You’re an idiot, you know that?” MJ said with the weirdest mix of anger and fondness. She started opening cupboards searching for something.</p><p>“What are you doing?” Peter asked, watching her as she strode around the kitchen.</p><p>“You really haven’t eaten anything for a whole day?” She asked, pulling out a pot and setting it on the stove.</p><p>“Yeah,” Peter shrugged, “I’ve got food poisoning and I feel awful, why would I eat?”</p><p>MJ paused her search through the cupboards and turned back to stare at Peter. “Really?” You’re a superhuman who needs insane amounts of food and you thought you’d be fine if you didn’t eat for a day?”</p><p>“I guess I didn’t really think about it,” Peter said.</p><p>MJ sighed, grabbed a can of soup out of one of the cupboards, opened it, and dumped it in the pot on the stove. </p><p>“You don’t—”</p><p>MJ cut him off, “Yes, I do.” She stirred the soup and stared into the pot. “I know you said not to, but you’re clearly not doing well and can’t even take care of yourself right now, let alone Morgan.” She turned to face him. “Contrary to what you might think, I don’t wish you dead.”</p><p>Peter furrowed his brow in confusion, “I didn’t—, nevermind.”</p><p>MJ finished heating the soup and filled a bowl with it for Peter, sliding it to him and handing him a spoon. Then she sat down across from him and waited.</p><p>“Thanks,” he said, trying a spoonful and finding it didn’t immediately upset his stomach. He continued eating with MJ’s unwavering gaze set upon him and amid an uncomfortable silence that dragged on. </p><p>“So,” he said, finally breaking the quiet, “are you staying the night?”</p><p>MJ shrugged.</p><p>“If you are, there are a couple extra guest rooms upstairs,” Peter said, handing his empty bowl to MJ when she beckoned for it.</p><p>“You want more?” she asked.</p><p>“Yeah, actually,” Peter said, surprised at his appetite.</p><p>MJ filled up his bowl again with the last of the soup, sliding it to him and then busying herself by putting away the dishes. Occasionally she’d pause, trying to figure out where something went and Peter would direct her to the right spot, but actual conversation was minimal. </p><p>“So, what have you been up to?” MJ asked, sitting back down at the island once she was done with the dishes.</p><p>Considering that he hadn’t gotten a job for the summer, not much except let his anxiety consume him. “I don’t want to talk about it,” Peter said. “You?”</p><p>MJ raised an eyebrow at his reluctance to answer but responded to his question. She was between jobs at the moment and moving apartments. She too hadn’t done many remarkable things since they’d last had any meaningful interaction, so the conversation was very surface level, and Peter felt like he and MJ were dancing around one another trying not to set anything off.</p><p>Peter needed a shower and some sleep, so he showed MJ to one of the guest rooms and willed himself not to throw up. He managed a quick shower and a change of clothes before nausea started to set in again. He lay down in bed and hoped if he didn’t move at all the feeling would go away. It did after a good bit of misery, and he tried his best to get some type of sleep so he didn’t feel as awful by the next morning.</p><p>He fell into a fitful sleep that would have given him decent rest had he not had a horrific nightmare and woken to MJ shaking him. He didn’t remember what it was, but if MJ had come to wake him up, that probably meant he’d been screaming. He sure hoped he hadn’t woken Morgan up too.</p><p>“Hey, it’s just a nightmare, you’re okay,” MJ whispered.</p><p>Peter groaned, planting his face in his pillow and clutching it tightly, trying to stop shaking, he took several deep breaths to calm himself. He could feel MJ’s concerned look on his neck, so he turned his head towards her and said, “I’m fine.”</p><p>“No you’re not,” she responded tersely. “What’s wrong?”</p><p>“Nothing,” Peter snapped.</p><p>“Okay,” MJ said calmly. “I’m sleeping in here anyway because I don’t want you to wake Morgan up with your screaming and I think you need the company.” She walked around to the other side of the bed, grabbing the sheets and pausing, giving Peter a chance to say no. He didn’t, so she slid into the bed and got comfortable.</p><p>MJ took a breath. “Peter, you need to start admitting when you need help. You know that the reason I just couldn’t do it anymore was because of that, right? You, running right into danger and acting invincible, not even considering how hard it was for me to sit by and watch you almost die.” She choked out the last sentence. “Again, and again, and again.” </p><p>“Well I’m not doing Spider-Man stuff anymore, haven’t for a while. Does <i>that</i> make you feel better?” Peter said sharply. Everything that had been building up for a month was threatening to spill out, but MJ wisely didn’t say anything and Peter was able to stop himself from making a complete mess of the situation, so they stayed in the uncomfortable quiet.</p><p>They lay in silence for a while before MJ said, “Do your nightmares have anything to do with why Spider-Man hasn’t been seen in a month?”</p><p>Peter swallowed, unable to say anything. He knew that meant a yes to MJ, and he wasn’t going to lie to her. He didn’t think she’d been paying close attention to Spider-Man, especially not after their fight. She’d wanted a reason to stop worrying about him, so why hadn’t she stopped worrying?</p><p>“What happened?” she asked tentatively.</p><p>Peter rolled over and didn’t say anything, MJ didn’t press him. He stayed quiet for so long that he was pretty sure MJ had fallen asleep. Then he started talking, and even after he realized she was still awake he kept talking.</p><p>He told her how it started, little flashes of things out of the corner of his eye that would disappear when he turned to look at them. It was only on patrol, so when it escalated it had immediate negative effects, causing him more injuries and making him lose more criminals than normal. He didn’t tell anyone because he didn’t think much of it, just that he was more distracted.</p><p>Then it bled into everyday life and continued to escalate, people would blink out of existence right in front of Peter’s eyes, he’d have a conversation with someone only to realize no one had been there at all. He’d fight criminals he didn’t realize weren’t real until footage would leak of Spider-Man fighting nothing (though he told the public those were training exercises). He didn’t tell anyone because Spider-Man was what he loved, and he didn’t want to be pulled off of patrol for having mental issues when he was pretty sure that wasn’t what they were.</p><p>He ran into a new villain in Queens, after he and MJ had broken up, someone who could manipulate reality. But Peter didn’t know that at first, so when he saw the people he loved in danger or as victims of horrific accidents he thought it was real, and when they turned out to be fine he didn’t know what to believe. He got into one final fight that he still couldn’t describe, all he could say was that he didn’t know it wasn’t real until the man doing it had been injured. He didn’t have to take initiative to tell that to anyone because Tony had been the one to injure the guy.</p><p>Beck, the man behind it all, had been using tech he developed while at Stark Industries, and Tony had already begun looking into him when he’d started fighting Peter. It was pure luck that Tony had gotten to Beck when he did, but not lucky when Beck died of surgery complications, Peter still felt guilty for making Tony culpable in Beck’s death. All his tech was found and destroyed and Peter, traumatized and unable to tell what was real and what wasn’t, took a break from Spider-Man until he could go out safely on patrol again. </p><p>MJ didn’t say anything, just reached over to give him a hug and held him until he fell asleep.</p>
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</p><p>Peter still felt sick the next day, but he could actually eat and keep it down, so he counted that as progress. MJ stayed and helped, taking Morgan out for a tour of the woods when Peter couldn’t and chasing after her when she decided to run somewhere and cause mischief. </p><p>Peter and MJ had a productive conversation while Morgan was down for her nap, and Peter wouldn’t say they’d reached full forgiveness, but they came to much more of an understanding than they’d had before. Peter hated that May had been right about calling MJ, but she wouldn’t have to know about this because MJ planned on leaving before May got back.</p><p>Peter, MJ, and Morgan were having a late-night snack in the form of hot chocolate when Peter heard a door open and slam close. He straightened, heart thumping in his chest, but when he heard Tony’s voice he let out a large breath and sagged in his seat. Morgan had also heard his voice because she jumped out of her chair and ran as fast as she could out of the kitchen and to her dad.</p><p>“Wait a minute, he’s a day early,” Peter said, shooting MJ a look.</p><p>MJ shrugged, “I knew you weren’t going to call them so I did. You’re sick and since you’ve bragged to me about your immune system every time I get sick, I’m pretty sure that’s not supposed to be happening. So, here they are,”</p><p>As if on cue, May entered the kitchen and enveloped Peter in a hug. Peter pushed her off when she held on too long and laughed when she did the same to MJ. “Thank you so much for calling us!” May said to MJ. </p><p>Tony walked in holding Morgan and agreed with May.</p><p>“I’m not even that sick anymore,” Peter said, “you didn’t have to cut your trips short, really.”</p><p>Tony, May, and MJ, all gave him the same disbelieving look and Peter sighed, deciding it was easier to admit defeat.</p><p>Tony put Morgan back in her chair and asked, “Why is the little miss up so late? I thought I was hiring a top rate babysitter.”</p><p>“If you knew anything about top rate babysitters you would know that to be cool we have to break some rules. This was supposed to be a secret.” Peter said with a grin.</p><p>“Oh, well in that case,” Tony said, “Morgan can finish her hot chocolate before I carry her to bed.” He winked at Morgan and she smiled back at him, slurping up the last drops in her cup.</p><p>Tony grabbed a napkin and wiped her face before picking her up and slinging her over his shoulder, walking off down the hallway with Morgan’s laughter following closely behind.</p><p>“Any more rules you two have broken?” May asked suggestively, winking at MJ.</p><p>“May!” Peter and MJ chorused, and Peter dropped his head to his hands, blushing fiercely. When he peeked up it appeared MJ was doing the same.</p><p>“Just checking,” May said, holding her hands up in surrender. “That’s my job after all.”</p><p>“No, it is most definitely not,” Peter said, sitting up. “Please never ask that again.”</p><p>MJ nodded in agreement.</p><p>After some more conversation, Peter decided it was time for him to go to bed. He left MJ, May, and Tony having a lively discussion and headed up to his room. He was sitting on the bed replying to Ned’s most recent texts when he heard a knock on the door and it creaked open. Tony stepped in and closed it behind him, sitting on the opposite end of the bed.</p><p>“How was it this week?” Tony asked.</p><p>Peter shrugged, “Aside from being sick it was…okay, I guess.”</p><p>“Define okay,” Tony said.</p><p>“It was really fun to look after Morgan, she just keeps getting smarter and cuter... But I couldn’t sleep, I always thought someone was coming for her, or me, or both of us. I was also convinced I’d been poisoned, but that was part of being sick.” Peter shrugged, it definitely wasn’t the worst he’d experienced but it wasn’t great.</p><p>“I’ll have to get Bruce and FRIDAY to do some tests, but you probably weren’t poisoned, just got hit with a nasty bug that was lucky enough to be very effective in your system or had an elevated immune response to a normal bug,” Tony said, seeming pretty confident. “About the other stuff, do you think you’re ready to get help?” Tony’s brow creased and he softened his voice, treading lightly.</p><p>“I….might be?” Peter shrugged, “I don’t know though.”</p><p>“You can always give it a shot and try again if it doesn’t work the first time,” Tony said.</p><p>“Yeah,” Peter sighed, “I guess.”</p><p>“And MJ?” Tony asked.</p><p>“She was the only one I could call who I trusted enough to help. And she knows everything now, we’ve even kind of half made up.” Peter said.</p><p>“That’s good.” Tony smiled, “Are you willing to babysit again anytime soon? Pepper has another big business trip scheduled soon.”</p><p>“Eh, I think I’ll pass,” Peter said with a smile, “You might have better luck with someone else, maybe MJ? Or your backup. Come to think of it, why didn’t you send your backup here instead of coming home early?”</p><p>Tony started laughing, “MJ didn’t tell you?” </p><p>“No, what?” Peter asked.</p><p>“MJ <i>was</i> the backup.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Visit my tumblr for mediocre content <a href="https://papered-owl.tumblr.com/">@paperedowl</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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